A lawsuit has been filed accusing the accounting ‎firm Ernst & Young in helping the former directors to hide financial problems at Jordan-based investment bank Amwal Invest. ‎Amwal Invest is asking for JOD 77.5 million (110 million USD) for its shareholders in damages and attorney's ‎fees from E&Y.‎

The lawsuit was filed by Amwal Invest Attorney Ghandi Qawasmi in a Jordan ‎court. Qawasmi said that the lawsuit is one of the first legal actions ‎stemming from anti-corruption trends in Jordan. The claim cites violations of the Jordan Company Act and violation of more than eight International Audit ‎Standards.

The lawsuit alleges that Ernst & Young conspired with the former Board of Directors of ‎Amwal Invest in a scheme to shuffle tens of millions of Dinars from its balance ‎sheets in order to boost the appearance of Amwal Invest’s liquidity. ‎

Amwal Invest is a public company with capital of JOD 45 million and more than 7,800 shareholders. In 2011, a small group of activists and shareholders informally investigated the performance of the company, discovering several instances of corruption. A statement on Amwal Invest’s website cites, “The main corruption ‎case in Amwal Invest story was the so-called Sara Transaction, where the company ‎bought Real Estates valued at JOD 37 million from its Chairman, Mr. Fayez Faouri, the ‎Chairman, which has been marked as a conflict of interest.”